The 'What If' Game
by Chapt3rFour
Summary: To distract Jounouchi from his fear of thunderstorms, Kaiba plays a little guessing game of 'What if...' ...Puppyshipping...


**The 'What If...' Game**

**Originally on my DeviantART account, written under a different fandom, I decided to rewrite it, Puppyshipping style ^_^ **

**Disclaimer: I do not – sadly – own Yu-Gi-Oh. :'[**

The thunder roared outside, its booming bass quality resonating within the interior of the stuffy hotel. The darkened rooms were illuminated every so often by the frightening spark of sheet lighting outside. I lay in my bed, listening to all the chaos and confusion outside. The little alarm clock beside my bunk was registering that it was 1 am. It wasn't late really. I'd sometimes worked well into 2 am in the mornings. I was used to sleepless nights.

Another flash of lightning; another loud rumble. The storm outside was turning pretty nasty, moving closer to our location with every passing minute. I was a light sleeper, so until it died down, or until I passed out from exhaustion, I'd be wide awake for a while, listening to the rain bombard the ground like tiny water bullets.

I was currently on a school trip, something the school did almost ceremoniously for the senior year every January. It was my bad luck that I ended up sharing a room with that mutt Jounouchi… Wait. What am I saying? Mutt? No. Jounouchi is much more. He's a pest. He invades my every innocent thought, popping up at inconvenient times, like when I'm trying to sleep or in the shower. It may be his own damn fault he's so cute, but I must admit it's mine that I've fallen for him… Yes, that's right. Seto Kaiba is completely and utterly in love with Jounouchi Katsuya. No one, not even Mokuba, knows about this. It's my own little secret, and I plan on keeping it just that. If anyone found out the great CEO of KaibaCorp was really in love with another guy, my life would be hell.

Due to our school having such a pathetic budget, we were reduced to sharing a 'suite'. These so-called suites were tiny – there was literally enough room for two beds and a pokey locker between them. What made it worse was that in each hotel apartment were two separate rooms, and on the other side of the cheap wooden door was Yugi and Honda.

If I had known it was this crap I would've reserved my own luxury room. Scrap that. I wouldn't have come here in the first place.

But this trip did have some perks: Jounouchi Katsuya, for example.

Across the narrow passage between my bed and Jounouchi's, I heard him give a little sigh and turn onto his side. It was too dark to see him, but I wagered he was still awake too. His breathing was too quick for someone who was asleep.

For the third time in two minutes, another wave of thunder and lightening hit the area. I felt my body subconsciously shivering, thanking whatever God existed that I wasn't outside in that storm. The rain was now pelting so hard against the window it sounded like hailstones…

When the thunder had finished, I heard a small whimper come from my right side. I sat up with an amused grin on my face – so the mutt was afraid of storms? _How cute_… I mused as he winced at yet another lightning flash.

In the room next to us, I heard Yugi speaking to Honda – no doubt the brat was afraid of storms as well.

The mutt gave a slightly louder whimper as the lightning flashed outside, followed by the roll of thunder. I rolled my eyes. He was so like a dog it was uncanny… He tried so hard on being this tough kid who could win any fight, when in reality one strike from Mother Nature had him cowering like a puppy. All though, all that being said about the mutt, I myself was not too keen on thunder storms.

I decided to see if the mutt was okay. We both knew the other was awake… It would be the perfect excuse to 'bond' with him…

Reluctantly, I pushed the duvet away. I was met almost immediately by a draught of cold air. I moved as quickly as I could to Jounouchi's bunk, standing up at his bedside, arms folded, and waiting for him to notice me...

He had heard me move and turned his attention to me. His brown eyes were wary and wide awake. He sat up and rubbed his eyes in disbelief. "Kaiba? What're you…"

"Move over. I'm freezing my ass off."

He obeyed, scooting over and letting me get into his tiny single bed. I gladly welcomed the heat of his blanket.

"Um..." he said dumbly, his voice timid. I knew he was nervous; just as he spoke the room was lit up with bright light, followed by a clap of thunder, and I felt him cringe into me. My hand instinctively came up to his head and was about stroke his hair before I remembered where I was and who I was. I had, for a slight moment, forgotten that this was Jounouchi, not Mokuba. In that short moment though, I had felt oddly protective of him.

"Scared, Mutt?"

He nodded, unashamed.

"You know," I muttered. "You're like a small child… All though, even Mokuba got over thunderstorms when he was six…"

Jounouchi gritted his teeth, slightly annoyed by my remark. "Ergh Moneybags, you're so reassuring sometimes…" He tried to push me out of the bed, but failed miserably. It was the storm that cut him off. "I don't like thunder." He whispered, cringing once again. "Lightning is cool to look at, but thunder is just… Scary. You never know where it's coming from. It's so… elusive."

"Fancy word, mutt."

He didn't respond. I could tell something was on his mind... "What's up?" I eventually asked, dropping all harshness from my voice. I hoped I sounded comforting.

He sighed and folded his hands behind his head. "When I was small... I remember my parents fighting one night. Shizuka was at my aunt's house, so it was just me on my own. While my parents fought, there was a storm outside…" He shuddered at the memory, but didn't continue the story. I wasn't a fool. I could work it out for myself. His childhood was not a pleasant time.

I was surprised he confided in me. For that odd reason I felt compelled to comfort him.

However, I just nodded in response to what he said. We both fell into deep thought after that. Jounouchi's bed was small, so his head was slightly lying against my chest. I liked that actually. His body was curved against mine, and I must admit, we fit pretty well together...

_Dream on Seto, he's not gay._

How cruel reality can be…

"Say Mutt…" I finally announced after our moments silence. The storm was moving closer now – I reckoned only half a mile away. The thunder was increasing in volume, as were Jounouchi's little convulsions whenever it struck.

"Mmhmm?"

"Why don't we play a little game…?"

He peered up at me inquisitively. "What kinda game?" As he lay beside me, I noted he wore a pyjama's with little puppies on, which the irony of that alone made me laugh. He always did remind me of puppy… Especially whenever he wanted something. Never mind a mutt; he was too cute to be some stray dog…

"It's called 'What If' game. Ever played it before? I'm sure you did… It's one of my favourites actually."

He nodded in response. "Yeah, I think Shizuka's mentioned it before…"

"So you know what to do then?"

He nodded again.

"Okay… I'll go first…" I gave a moments thought to it. "What if we were in a pop band?"

Jounouchi gave a chuckle. "We'd be terrible… Could you imagine Honda singing songs like that kid… Bieber, I think he's called? Or me doing all those weird dance moves?" He gave a giggle. "Oh God... And the two of us could be the back up singers Moneybags…"

"We'd be pretty lame, I suppose… Especially me, as much as I'd hate to admit it. I can barely stomach Mokuba's singing… I'd hate to hear mine… I've never even tried to sing before."

Jounouchi giggled. Yes, he giggled. While he did so, the thunder continued outside but he didn't even notice. "Okay, my turn…" He propped his head into his hand, his elbow resting on the pillow. "What if Yugi was a girl?"

Surprisingly out of character, I found myself laughing really hard at that one. If only the Pharaoh – as much as I hated him - were here… He loved taking the piss out of Yugi. It was his life's passion, next to duelling. "That's easy… He'd still be the same little shit he always is…"

Chuckling, we both tried very hard not to imagine Yugi as a girl, failing as the mental image of the small boy kitted out in a pink frilly dress popped into our heads. Jounouchi was the first to snap, erupting into fits of giggles, his laughter being contagious and spreading to me as quick as it started. We both lay in the bunk, cracking up over poor Yugi, who was in the next room fast asleep in Honda's bed…

When our laughter had died down slightly, I gave a sigh and snuggled down under the duvet, my body toasty warm pressed against Jounouchi's. He had this amazing cologne that he used, and fortunately, I could smell it from the blanket. It made my stomach knot into a spasm of longing…

Jounouchi wiped the tears of laughter from his eyes and breathed a sigh of relief. "Your turn, Kaiba." He relaxed back under the duvet, his face only an inch from mine on the pillow. I could feel my face suddenly grow hot with embarrassment. My heart was beginning to race… Then my brain began to chant:

_Kiss him._

I shook the idea from my head. "Hm... Let me see…"

_Kiss him._

I can't kiss him! He's my rival! And he's a guy. A straight guy too.

_Kiss him._

Jounouchi smiled, his body pulling closer to mine. Our lips were literally two centimetres apart. Two! "C'mon Kaiba..." His arm came up to my side, his index finger stroking my bicep in a – slightly – seductive way. I felt my urges to kiss him rise…

"What if..." Oh God, here comes the word vomit! "What if I kissed you?" That sounded one million times worse than what I had hoped. If my voice hadn't dropped so low, and if it hadn't came out all sexy and deep… Oh God… I felt myself panic. My hands began to sweat; my heart was thumping louder than any thunder.

"I'd kiss you back."

"What?"

"I said, I'd kiss you back."

Did my ears deceive me? Did Jounouchi Katsuya just offer (kind of) to let me kiss him? I should've kissed him there and then, but, no. There just came more word vomit. _Lovely_. "What if I loved you?" I had to say 'love', didn't I? It couldn't be fancy, or have a crush on, or even like? No. I just had to say love…

Jounouchi gave a smile. He shifted himself in the bed so he was slightly above me on the pillow. His hand slid away from my arm and up to my cheek. "I'd say I loved you back…" The callused pad of thumb started stroking my right cheek. "You had two turns… Now it's my go…"

I swallowed, not trusting myself to speak.

He gave a smile. So, suddenly, he was the confident one and I was the nervous one? He pressed his face to mine. I kept my eyes open, too scared to breathe. "Relax…" He hushed, resuming stroking my cheek. I swallowed again, and managed to ease myself to some extent.

He waited until I was ready, and then ever so slightly pressed his moist lips to mine. The second we kissed, I forget where I was. The storm outside had magically stopped being registered by my brain. The low hum the hotel's heating system made faded away. Even my own rapid heartbeat ceased to exist anymore. It was all about Jounouchi. Jounouchi, Jounouchi, Jounouchi.

Damn, he was a good kisser. I had dominance, but he still had his own little perks. We kept it simple at the start – just lips, nothing else. But the mutt got cheeky and bit my lower lip, telling me to give him more. So I did. I let my tongue explore his mouth, enjoying the taste, and the pleasuring little moans he released. His hands wove themselves around my shoulders and into my thick hair. I rested my hand on his hips. I never before knew what to do with them when kissing girls, but everything came so easily with him...

We broke apart minutes later. I shakily took a breath in, and Jounouchi smiled. "Wow," was all he said. I slunk back under the blankets and cuddled him into my chest. My heartbeat was drumming casually along with his, both of us coming down from the fantastic ecstasy we had just been caught up in…

I pressed my cheek to his head and sighed contently. How I had dreamed for this day… So many nights I had sat wide awake in my room, letting my imagination run shamefully wide, always hoping that even a glimmer of it would come true… Until now… And it felt great.

"Say Kaiba…" Jounouchi had his hands wrapped around my waist. As he spoke, he trailed a finger up and down my lower back, tickling my spine and sending shivers rippling through my skin. How is it possible that one person can make you feel so good? "Are we a couple now?"

I didn't hesitate to answer. "Yes! That is, if you want us to be."

"Of course I do!" He exclaimed, maybe a little too loudly. "Ooops…" He whispered, burying his head deeply into the folds of my t-shirt as our bedroom door was swung open and someone entered.

It was Honda. That I could tell from his clumsy footsteps. He walked over to Jounouchi's bed and peered down. When he saw us, I gathered he was too surprised to say anything. He caught my eye, and we both looked away, cheeks flushing with embarrassment.

Suddenly, the darkness behind my eyelids was replaced with a flash of light. I mentally groaned… Here comes the storm, once again. It was beginning to piss me off.

It came, louder than before. It was above us, I figured. I waited for Jounouchi to flinch in my arms. I anticipated his voice whimpering, his body convulsing with fear… It never came. I opened my eyes and gazed down at him. Honda had wandered away without me realising, and our bedroom door was shut closed.

"Jounouchi, you didn't-"

"I know!" He squealed. "I wasn't afraid! I just felt so protected being in your arms that I just couldn't be bothered to be scared anymore." He stopped talking and gave a triumphant laugh. "Take that thunder!"

I laughed with him. How cute… "Jounouchi, you're adorable…" I pressed my nose to his, and we engaged in a weird version of an Eskimo kiss… I'm pretty sure Eskimo kisses don't end up with one person straddling the other, but ours did.

"I can't wait until we get back home…" I whispered. What had happened to the Seto Kaiba from earlier? He seemed to be replaced with a mushy, lovey-dovey new Kaiba, complete with a cute boyfriend and new found confidence. And I loved it.

Jounouchi nodded, agreeing. His hands trailed down my chest, exploring my body. I closed my eyes, enjoying his touch. "Just wait and see what I'm going to do with you later on…" He purred. "That is," he quickly added, "If you want to…"

"Jounouchi!" I moaned. "Of course I will… Just… Don't say things like that out loud…"

"Why not…?"

"Because Yugi and Honda are listening at the door." I raised my voice loudly, straining my ears to hear two people scuttling away from the door quickly. Jounouchi laughed.

"Ooops…" He whispered, getting of my legs and sliding back into my arms. "Sorry.."

"It's okay," I replied. We awkwardly lay there for several more minutes, before Jounouchi decided to ask:

"What if we had sex in the hotel room?"

"... Mutt we stopped playing that game when I kissed you."

"Oh."


End file.
